Accepted
by autumndragon209
Summary: Sequel to "Acceptance". Raphael and Autumn continue to deepen their relationship, as do April and Donatello, while a new OC is introduced after her world is turned upside-down at the hands of Shredder and his henchmen. Set in the 2012 cartoon. RaphaelxOC, Apritello, rated M for a reason! Buckle up and enjoy the ride!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I'm back! Too many ideas in my head, had to get them out… So I've been brewing some ideas for a sequel since like halfway through Acceptance, and suddenly I was hit with an idea for another story. And since I'm crazy busy PLUS trying to work on my original fiction novel, I figured I'd find a way to combine my new idea with my idea for a sequel. So hang on tight, I'm going to be flinging you all over the place but I'll do my best to keep it clear and easy to read! I plan to pack this full of friendship, life lessons, fluff, lemons, adventure, suspense if I'm capable of that, humor if I can handle it, and all kinds of goodies. All while trying to stick with the universe I've created in Acceptance while melding it with pieces of the current TMNT 2k12verse. Whew. Am I in over my head? I guess if I have aspirations of being published someday, I should push some boundaries, right?**

 **So be warned, this fic is rated M for a reason. I do have fun writing in that department. But if you're easily offended, move on along, I'd hate to offend anyone. And this story could certainly risk doing that. I'll give you fair warning before each chapter though. But for now, let's check in on how Autumn and Raph are doing :). Enjoy! And please review (but be nice ^_^).**

 **Chapter 1**

Autumn woke up slowly, her first bleary thought being the realization that she wasn't in April's room, which she had grown to accept as her own room. Her second realization was how different she felt – having gotten so used to her lizard form, being human again threw her off, especially waking up for the first time as a human. Her skin felt silky smooth against the sheets, rather than rough scales catching on the fibers. Her back felt so flat it almost gave her a concave sensation, the lack of tail creating a void that was almost alien to her. Her scalp tingled as she shifted her head, feeling hyper aware of the hair all over it that had been nonexistent for over a year. How strange it was to feel so foreign in her own skin, yet it was such a welcome feeling too. Finally.

She smiled as her eyelids fluttered, not wanting to open them just yet, and she reveled in the sensation of her lashes against her cheeks. She rolled onto her side and almost fell forward, startled, realizing the bed was sinking in drastically by a very heavy weight next to her.

 _Raphael…_ she thought, her smile growing. _I spent the night with Raphael…_ The memory of their night together filled her mind and swelled her heart – they had held each other desperately, never wanting to let go, kissing and kissing until they were utterly delirious and breathless and drunk on each other, passing out in each other's arms in the comfort of Raph's bed.

She opened her eyes and tried to focus through the dim light of the nightlight on the wall. Her eyes first fell on his sleeping face, his eyes closed softly, his face totally relaxed, and looking oddly foreign to her – she never saw him without his mask on, and she had to admit, she liked what she saw. His mouth was hanging open as he breathed deeply through his throat, his head resting on one arm that was stretched up above him. His other arm hung loosely at his side.

She lifted his loose arm carefully and wrapped it around her as she nestled in closer, pressing herself up against his plastron and sighing happily, and she felt him stir slightly against her.

He let out a small moan and nuzzled his face into her hair, which sent electricity through her body causing her to shudder against the sensation. "Mmm," he hummed. "Good morning…"

"Morning," Autumn sighed in response, and she leaned herself back slightly enough so that their eyes met, and for a few moments all they did was soak each other in, gazing into each other's eyes, almost in disbelief that this moment was real, that everything that transpired the day before was real, that their feelings for each other were real, and even more amazingly – mutual.

"How ya feelin'?" Raph asked, studying her face, his hand coming up to rub the side of her arm.

She smiled in return. "Amazing," she replied without hesitation, her voice coming as a sigh. She then thought about her newly human form and chuckled a bit. "A little confused and foreign, I'll be honest…" She smiled at him once more, then added, "But amazing."

"You look amazing…" he muttered to her, not caring in the slightest if he sounded corny for saying it.

Autumn grinned. "You're not so bad yourself," she replied, bringing the back of her knuckles up to brush against his temple, then drawing her thumb across his brow. "I kinda like this naked look."

Raph chuckled and drew the fabric of her shirt into his fingers. "Wish I could say the same about you," he said mischievously, a glint in his eye.

"Oooh, let's not get carried away now," Autumn muttered in reply, though she so badly wanted to grant him his wish. It was definitely too soon to cross that bridge though. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, taking him by surprise for a moment before he relaxed and returned the kiss, his lips hungry and his breath hot. They pulled away, almost breathless at the short, sweet contact, and gazed into each other's eyes again.

"I still can't believe this is real…" Raph admitted in a whisper. He was trying so hard to just roll with it, like he had since the first time she seduced him into sparring with her when she was still in lizard form. He knew he needed to trust her, that she really meant everything she said the night before, that she really did want to be with him. Though he was still afraid it was too good to be true, at the same time he wanted it enough that he had to just trust her.

Autumn smiled at him, her hand still at his face, her thumb brushing absently across his cheek. "I'm sorry I didn't talk to you sooner…" she said, her smile fading.

Raph shook his head. "I should have said something too." He pulled her in closer to him, holding her against his plastron as he stroked her back. "Let's just try harder to talk to each other, okay?"

Autumn sighed into his solid chest, closing her eyes. "Definitely," she responded quietly.

Reluctantly, they both finally drew themselves out of bed to join the rest of the clan. It was almost like a walk of shame when they arrived in the kitchen, the other three turtles eyeing them suspiciously, especially Autumn and her mussed up hair.

"What are you lookin' at?" Autumn barked at the group, causing them to quickly avert their eyes. Raph's face turned red against his will, which brought up an internal laugh that Autumn had to fight to stifle.

Mikey was the only one who didn't seem put off by Autumn's defense. "You guys have _fun_ last night?" he prodded, grinning, as he served up plates of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Yep," Autumn replied confidently, smiling and seeming unfazed. Raph's face only glowed redder.

"Maybe a subject change..." Leo suggested, his face slightly contorted.

Raph rolled his eyes, then glowered at them. "Oh my god, you guys, nothing happened last night, get over yourselves."

This time Autumn couldn't help but giggle. Leo cleared his throat and stuck to his original idea. "So, Autumn," he said, facing her. "Have you thought about heading home yet?"

The grin quickly left Autumn's face, and Raph averted his eyes. It was a thought he wanted to avoid thinking about, still unsure if her reunion with her family would mean him losing her. Autumn took a plate from Mikey and began absently picking at her eggs. "I guess a little..." she replied, not making eye contact.

"What's wrong?" Donnie asked, noticing her lack of enthusiasm at something that just the day before was something she was overly excited about.

Autumn simply shrugged. "I dunno." She then looked around the room. "Where's April?" She suddenly realized she wanted female support.

"She had to fill in for a coworker at the coffee shop today," Donnie replied.

"Hey, if you don't want to talk about all this right now, you don't have to," Leo said gently as he took a bite of his scrambled eggs. Raph eyed her nervously, still not sure what to expect of her feelings. At the same time he attempted to suppress irritation at his older brother for taking his job of being the considerate, supportive one for Autumn. Even though consideration and support weren't exactly his strong points...

Autumn shook her head. "No, it's okay, I should." She sighed, then began, "I can't just walk right back into their lives, ya know? I've been missing for over a year, they'll want an explanation." She looked at the group expectantly, then finally motioned her hands in reference to them and the lair. "I can't exactly tell them the truth..."

Leo quickly replied, "No, we'll have to help you come up with a story."

Autumn looked at Raph with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Suddenly the reality of not getting to introduce her boyfriend ( _was_ he her boyfriend?) to her family dawned on her. Another realization hit her shortly thereafter. She wanted them to know. She didn't want to make up a story, a lie, about where she'd been all this year. Something very life changing happened to her, something that will stay with her in the shadows of her mind for the rest of her life. Reuniting with her family was something she desperately wanted, and craved, but reuniting with lies was not making her look forward to the experience, or filling her heart with the happiness she knew she should be feeling over such a reunion. "Right," was all she said in response to Leo.

Raph remained silent. He watched the inner turmoil that clouded into Autumn's eyes and wished that not only could he read what was on her mind, but that he could ease it. Without thinking he reached over and gave the back of her arm a comforting squeeze, and she instantly looked up to meet his eyes. An electricity surged between them, her overwhelming sense of gratitude for his care and compassion flooded into her, and he swore he could tangibly feel it. He swallowed hard.

"Damn, never thought we'd see your shell crack, Raph," Donnie couldn't help but say, grinning slyly.

Raph broke eye contact, thus breaking the electrical circuit created between himself and Autumn, and glared at his brother in purple. "Least I got a shell," he retorted.

"Hey now!" Donnie replied, still grinning but throwing his hands up in surrender. "After all the hell of mockery you've put me through because of April these past few months, it's _my_ turn." He pressed his thumb to his chest.

Autumn snorted to herself, grinning as she took a bite of bacon. Mikey broke the quarrel that was beginning to form between the two brothers. "So, dude, is she your girlfriend now?" he asked.

Autumn and Raph both went rigid. They looked at each other, both searching each other's faces for signs of what the answer was to Mikey's question. They hadn't really discussed it. She did say she wanted to be with him, that leaving him was the last thing she wanted to do, and he knew he wanted to keep her in his life, but what did that _mean_? Did a title come with that? These were incredibly foreign concepts to him.

"Um..." he started, but Autumn noted the panic that was beginning to rise in him, and jumped to his rescue.

"We haven't really talked about that..." Autumn interjected. She looked at him again, and his panic seemed to subside as he looked down at his plate.

"Dude, you guys slept with each other and you don't know if she's your girlfriend?" Mikey responded, looking at Raph with a slight bit of disgust.

Raph brought the palms of his hands to his forehead in frustration. "Ugh!" he groaned. "It was _sleep_!" He pinched his fingers together and drew a line in the air between them, emphasizing the simplicity and conciseness of the term "sleep". "We just slept! Eyes closed, on a mattress, clothing intact! Get your fuckin' head out of the gutter! _And_ out of our business!"

This time Mikey pressed his hands up in the air in surrender. "Okay okay, man, geez! No hankey-pankey, I get it!"

"Oh my god." Raph just groaned and shook his head.

Autumn chuckled, but she was curious - _did_ he consider her his girlfriend? She figured she'd address it then and there - after all, the group should probably know what was going on too. "So, I am curious myself, Raph," she said, meeting his eyes as he looked at her, suddenly terrified. " _Am_ I your girlfriend?"

"Do we have to discuss this now?" he asked, the panic returning in his eyes. " _Here_?" He gestured to the room around him, but mostly to the presence of his brothers.

She shrugged. "They're gonna find out anyway," she replied, "so might as well."

"Well I'm not sure I want to discuss it here," he responded defensively.

"Why not?" she pressed, leaning on the counter.

Raph's palms went back up to his forehead as he suddenly felt very stressed out and claustrophobic. _Just_ _go with the flow,_ he reminded himself. _Breathe_.

He dropped his arms at his sides as he took a deep breath. "Because I don't know what to think yet," he answered, looking her square in the eyes.

She suddenly felt bad for putting him on the spot, and she returned his gaze with pity. The other three silently spectated as they slowly ate their breakfast. "Well, what do you want?" she asked him softly.

He could feel everyone's eyes on him, and felt a lump growing in his throat. He took a deep breath, feeling like he was about to plunge off a cliff. "I want to think I have a shot at something here." He shrugged his hands out to his sides and dropped them again helplessly. "I know you said you want to be with me, and I want that too, but I still can't help but worry that this is only going to lead to pain and heartbreak for me down the road when you get sick of your secret relationship with your freaky mutant boyfriend and decide you want to go back to a normal human life." The rest of the room faded away as he poured his heart out, and only she existed in front of him, her face fallen with sadness for him, but her eyes sparkling with something more. He shook his head. "I don't know if I could recover from that."

Silence filled the room almost oppressively as the two stared at each other. Mikey, in true Mikey form, was the first to break it. "Dude, DWP," he breathed in awe. "You tamed the beast..."

Raph was rudely awakened from his trance and suddenly felt his cheeks burning at the realization that he displayed complete and total vulnerability to the last three people in the entire world that he'd ever want to see such a display from him. He immediately felt a fight rising in him, but, to his surprise, he stifled it, immediately turning on his heel and leaving the room. Not long after, they heard the slamming of his fists on the punching bag echoing through the halls from the dojo.

Autumn looked down at her barely touched breakfast. "I shouldn't have pressured him like that," she stated to no one in particular.

"No," Leo disagreed, his voice soft. "It was kind of nice to see that Raph actually has the capacity for feelings like that..."

"And the willingness to share them," Donnie added. "That was huge..."

"Please be his girlfriend," Mikey begged. "I like this new Raph!"

"No kidding," Leo agreed. He then met Autumn's eyes with a look of authority. "So long as he's not distracted and his new soft spot doesn't interfere with his hard fight."

Autumn chuckled, suddenly feeling a sense of warmth at the approval of Raph's brothers. "I doubt you have anything to worry about." She placed her fork on the table, having forgotten she was even still holding it, and said with a smile, "I better go talk to my boyfriend." The other three met her with smiles as she turned and left in the direction of the dojo.

She approached him from behind as he wailed on the bag. "I'm sorry I put you on the spot," she said without a moment's hesitation, her voice trying to rise over the loud slamming of his fists. He ignored her as he continued pummeling. "You're right, that was a conversation we should have had in private." He continued to ignore her. She was beginning to get aggravated. "Will you please say something?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even. Still no response. She felt the neurons in her brain attempt to fire and control a tail that was no longer there, which resulted in a strange ghost-like sensation on her backside. That would definitely take some getting used to. Without thinking any further, she swung her leg out and around and it connected hard with the back of his knee.

He faltered but recovered quickly, then whirled on her with a glaring expression. She could see fire in his eyes and she braced herself, meeting his gaze with the same fire and bringing her fists up into a guard stance. He rolled his eyes, which only ended up pissing her off. She realized she didn't look near as threatening as she did when she was a lizard, so perhaps he needed a reminder of who he was dealing with. She swung her fist forward, expecting him to block it, and as soon as he did her foot was already connecting with his shin. "Fuck, bitch!" he cried out in pain, but he stood his ground. She kinda liked him talking to her that way.

"Don't like that?" she hissed, and he scowled at her and launched. She automatically dropped and rolled backward onto the mat, grasping his hands as they thrusted toward her and brought her legs up to connect her feet with his plastron, and with all the strength she could muster, she grunted as she forced her legs up and back, feeling his body fly over her and landing with a thud on the floor behind her. For a moment they just lied there in shock, breathing heavily. Finally, she got up and walked over to him, feeling a bit of deja vu as she looked down at him on the floor. He didn't fly as far as the first time this happened, but she still managed to flip him off of her nonetheless. "I may not be a lizard with a scaly exterior anymore," she said, her voice low and even and her eyes locked on his. "But I'm the same person on the inside, and I still want you just as much now as I did then."

She extended her hand to help him up, but as soon as he took it he pulled her down to the floor with him, a look of shock coming across her face as she landed on his plastron. He immediately plunged his fingers into her hair and forced her face against his, his lips finding hers and melting her as soon as they made the connection. He sat up with her on him, their lips not separating, causing her to fall into his lap, and he desperately held her against him as their mouths opened and their tongues entwined. She sighed deeply and brought her hands up to the back of his neck, one hand traveling down to the sensitive skin against his carapace and the other tracing up the back of his skull. Being with him like this left no doubt in her mind that this was where she wanted to be, where she was meant to stay. She pulled away from him breathlessly, her violet brown eyes meeting his green. "Will you be my boyfriend?" she asked with complete seriousness.

His eyebrows rose under his mask. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

She smiled, bringing her palms to either side of his face. "Yes," she replied confidently. "I'm sure."

He sighed, still not truly believing, and brought his hands up to touch her hands as they pressed against his face. He searched her eyes once more. "So what does this mean?"

She shrugged, bringing her hands down and taking his with them. "It means we're together." She thought for a moment, then said, "We trust each other, we rely on each other, we're there for each other, we support each other, we defend each other..." She looked into his eyes for more clues as to what answers he was wanting. "We'll probably fight with each other, but that's normal, and okay."

He nodded thoughtfully, taking it all in, processing all that he was in for, and realizing that he felt totally ready for it. "That all?" he asked with a bit of a smirk, attempting to tease her about her long list.

She shrugged again, and in all seriousness (though she hid a feeling of silliness inside), replied, "I dunno. You can touch my boobs if you want?"

Raph nearly choked, falling backward slightly. "I...um... We're not quite ready to go that far yet, are we?" he stammered.

Autumn laughed, thoroughly enjoying his reaction. She felt as though she wanted to throw him off guard more often just to see him get all nervous - she found it adorable and endearing. She then replied casually, "Technically we've had a pretty physical relationship for a month already." She smiled at him, then continued, "I don't see why we couldn't progress."

He cleared his throat. It's not like he didn't want to progress into that kind of relationship with her. Quite the contrary - he wanted nothing more than to explore every inch of her, preferably without clothing involved. He wanted to taste her, smell her, savor every bit of her... He felt the strain in his lower plastron just thinking about it. And that was the problem - he wasn't sure he could control himself. He was surprised he controlled himself as well as he did for the past month, especially when things got rather hot and heavy between them. He didn't want to cross any lines or overstep any boundaries - he couldn't stand the thought of doing anything to break her trust. He sighed and looked down at her long, perfectly sculpted legs that were folded neatly in his lap, trying not to let his eyes wander to that mysterious V where her legs met. "I don't want to do anything wrong..." he said quietly.

She gave his hands a squeeze. "What would you do wrong?" she asked softly. "We're two consenting adults, what could go wrong?"

He looked up to meet her eyes. "If we start something, I'm afraid I won't have enough control to slow down or stop myself..." he admitted.

Autumn smiled. Without warning, she grabbed his hand and brought it toward her, pressing his palm firmly against her breast. He let out a strangled cry that caught in his throat, but immediately sank into the softness of her, his hand relaxing against her perfect mound. She leaned forward, smiling, and pressed her lips against his once more as she let go of his hand and let him be in charge. She felt so perfect, her soft lips against his and her even softer breast in his hand. Without thinking, he brought his other hand up to find her other breast and gave them both a squeeze, causing her to moan into his mouth. She felt herself growing wet at the sensation, and her musky, aroused scent wafted up from between them. It was almost too much, his tail strained desperately inside of him and just before it sprang forward from beneath his shell, their passion was rudely interrupted.

"What the fuck, dude!" came Leo's voice, angry and demanding. "Not in the dojo!"

They broke apart so fast they were suddenly standing five feet apart from each other and not sure how they got there.

"Gross.." Mikey muttered, and all Raph and Autumn could do was laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Shredder loomed darkly in the doorway of Baxter Stockman's laboratory, eyeing the large humanoid fly with disgust and annoyance. He couldn't deny that the man… or fly… had brains that were of great value to him, but what he had in intelligence, he lacked in grace. Shredder had plans - great, new plans - that he knew, with Stockman's intelligence, could be executed; however Shredder was certain that during the course of bringing his new ideas to fruition, Stockman would find plenty of ways to fuck the whole thing up.

"Yeeezzzz, mazzzzter?" Stockman buzzed upon noticing Shredder's silent entrance.

"I hesitate to ask of your services," Shredder began in a low voice, undertoned with annoyance, "beings that you always manage to destroy things before you manage to create anything useful." The mutant fly buzzed with shame mixed with fear. What on earth was being requested of him _now?_ Would this hell that was his life ever come to an end? "However,"" Shredder continued, "I cannot help but feel this new… project… will prove to be quite useful to me in finally getting my revenge, as well as gaining the power I desire. If you're competent enough to follow through with it," he added in a mutter.

"Commmmptetent, sirrrr," Stockman buzzed in return, his wings fluttering briefly behind him.

Shredder sighed. Why was he cursed with such pathetic minions? Nevermind, he must work with what the Universe handed him. His persistence in working with these useless dolts would only make him that much stronger when he finally reached the level of power he had been seeking for far too long. And then he could extinguish them and build himself an army of _real_ henchmen, who served their master with the perfect combination of intelligence, strength, stealth, speed, and grace.

But for now, he would bide his time with the useless dolts.

"Do you still have the Kraang's mutagen on hand?"

"Yezzzzzz mazzzzzter," Stockman replied in an affirmative buzz, bowing his bulbous head in response.

"I would like to develop the mind-control technology we had discussed once before, but work it into a form of mutagen, instead. I would like you to manipulate the effects the mutagen has upon coming in contact with it. I believe this… upgrade… could prove very useful to my mission." The corners of Shredder's mouth curled into a malicious smirk as he turned his ideas over in his head, then stepped forward toward the mutant genius fly to begin explaining what exactly he had in mind.

XXXXX

Penelope Ludwig smiled as the crowd began growing slowly around her, curious eyes locked on her every move. She drank in the attention, loving the feeling of stunning, shocking, and downright blowing people away. She was at the corner of an intersection, on a street lined with small mom & pop shops that made one feel as though they weren't in the heart of a major city, but rather in a quaint town in a more rural part of the state. That is, if one chose to ignore the massive skyscrapers looming in the not-so-far distance. She pinched the edges of her worn deck of cards and flipped them into her awaiting opposite hand in a fluttering stream. She locked eyes on a man in the back of the crowd and smiled mischievously. "You, sir, pick a card," she directed as she fanned the deck in front of him. He hesitantly pulled one from the selection. "Now memorize it, don't tell me, and stick it in your back pocket." He did as he was told, slipping the paper playing piece into the back pocket of his jeans after getting a clear picture of it in his memory. She smiled again, shuffling the cards from one hand to the next, then handed the deck to a woman in the front of the crowd. "Ma'am, you mind giving these a shuffle for me?" The woman obliged as she took the deck and shuffled them. "Great, thanks, now go get me one of those rosemary orange scones," Penny thumbed over her shoulder toward the small bakery she happened to be standing in front of.

"Um…" the woman hesitated, her expression stating that she didn't exactly just want to buy something for a complete stranger, while at the same time conflicted with feeling maybe she owed her something for the show she was putting on.

Before she could struggle with her inner conflict any further, Penny smiled and chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll pay for it!" She gestured toward the deck of cards in the woman's hand, and as she fanned the deck out in her hands, to her shock she also fanned out seven dollars - a five and two ones - folded in half and tucked in with the cards, which she stared at in disbelief before looking up to meet Penny's sparkling eyes.

"H-how did that get there?" the woman questioned, her mouth agape.

Penny laughed again. "Tell her to keep the change!" she said, avoiding the woman's question, and she slowly walked toward the entrance in a dazed state of shock. Smiling, Penny returned to the crowd, and she proceeded to move forward with a few crowd pleasers before the woman returned with the requested scone, wrapped in wax paper. "Thanks!" Penny exclaimed, presenting her palm upright to brush away the scone, causing the woman to arch an eyebrow in confusion. "You like these too, don't you?" she asked another woman standing in the middle of the crowd.

The woman glanced around nervously, looking a bit surprised and taken aback. "Y-yes, actually, they're my favorite…" she replied.

"Great!" Penny exclaimed, pressing forward. She turned back to the woman with the scone. "Go ahead and let her have it." As the exchange was made, Penny continued with her instructions, "Now, ma'am, you mind splitting that with the gentleman next to you?"

"Oh," the man began nervously, waving his hands to decline the offer. "I'm fine."

Penny cocked her head, smiling beneath narrowed eyes and smirking. "Sir, I know you've never had them before, and it sounds like a bizarre flavor combo, but I assure you it'll become your new favorite as well." She returned her focus to the woman next to him and gestured for her to continue. "Now, go ahead and split it with him!"

Carefully, the woman began slowly tearing through the large, fluffy, triangular confection, and her eyes widened as a playing card emerged from within the baked dough. "What the…" she began.

Penny feigned surprise. "That's odd!" she said, leaning forward slightly, placing her hands on her hips. "You mind telling us what you found in there?"

Confused, the woman slid the card from the scone, releasing several crumbs in the process. "Three of hearts?" she replied, stating it more like a question.

"Holy shit!" the man from the beginning of the trick exclaimed from behind her, immediately bringing his hand to his back pocket. "Where the hell did it go?"

Penny raised her eyebrows, smiling. "That is some hole you have in your pocket, sir! I'd get that fixed right away! Imagine where your wallet could end up if you weren't careful?"

He immediately brought his hand to his opposite pocket, and the color drained from his face. "Where the hell is it?"

Penny sighed, shaking her head. "Maybe you should just get rid of those jeans, seems like there's some sort of wormhole in them or something. Guess we'll have to search the cosmos!" The man didn't look amused in the slightest, but before he could protest, a food truck pulled up along the side of the road a few feet from where they were standing. "I guess we'll start by checking there!" She gestured toward another man's ballcap on his sandy blonde head. "I think you have enough money to get us a chicken strip basket, sir," she said, and he gave her a curious glance before slowly lifting his hat from his head. A symphony of surprised gasps brushed across the crowd as a folded ten dollar bill tumbled from beneath his cap.

"How in the hell…?" the man began, his eyebrows raised as he stared at the bill resting at his feet on the sidewalk.

"Well don't just stand there, go get us some food!" Penny urged, and the man nervously nodded before stooping to retrieve the money and moving toward the food truck. Again, Penny whipped out some short crowd pleasers (which pleased the entire crowd except the man sans-wallet) before the man with the cap returned with Penny's order, tucked neatly in a box. "Did you see them assemble this?" she asked him.

"No, sorry, they just handed it to me," he responded hesitantly.

"Hmm, okay," Penny replied, shrugging. "Go ahead and let him check," she finished, gesturing toward the angry man in the back.

His expression quickly changed from anger to hesitant curiosity as he took the box from the man in the cap. Everyone's eyes were locked on him as he carefully unfolded the sides that were neatly tucked in at the edges, releasing the lid along with a tuft of steam that wafted up from the contents. His jaw dropped as he stared in shock, then slowly lifted his wallet from inside. "How… what… I…" he stammered, handing the box to the woman next to him as he opened his wallet and inspected the contents, confirming that nothing had been touched. He stared back up at Penny, who simply smiled at him. "How did you do that?"

Penny shrugged. "Wasn't me! It was the wormhole in your pocket! You could probably sell those pants to NASA and make some money off of them!" She laughed. "Thanks everyone, hope you all have a great day!" She flashed a quick wave at her spectators, who stared at her in shock before finally collecting themselves enough to erupt into applause as she wandered down the street, smiling proudly to herself. Yes, she thoroughly enjoyed those moments.

 **A/N Sorry this was so short, and for not delving into what the turtles are up to, but I'm just laying some groundwork here. I'll try to update the next chapter soon so I don't leave you hanging too long! And I've never been to NYC nor do I know anything about how to execute street magic tricks so I totally made all that up. I kinda figure anything is possible - I've seen some pretty jaw-dropping tricks that really make me wonder if they're just performing real magic and not slight-of-hand kind of stuff. That's what I envision for my new character. I hope you like her! I'll build up on her a bit more as we roll along. Reviews are appreciated! Thanks for the follows and faves so far!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Hello friends! Thanks for the reviews and follows so far! Sorry I don't respond to every one - I'm lucky to have the few minutes to spare to hop on and post these. Otherwise I'm occupying what little time I have left to myself actually writing. My original fiction novel has been getting a lot of my attention lately, too, so unfortunately Accepted is kind of slow-going. I'll try not to keep you hanging too much though! But just know that everyone's support means the world to me!**

 **Anyway, let's check back in with Autumn :D**

A few days had gone by without further mention of Autumn reuniting with her family. It was on her mind constantly, but she had no idea how to address the brothers with her thoughts about possibly telling her family the truth. She hadn't even told Raph. She instead focused on her relationship with him, both of them enjoying their new title, making them feel an even stronger sense of connection and a new lack of inhibition, though Raph was still terrified of progressing and possibly losing control. He had come so close to that in the dojo with her when they finally agreed to put a title to their relationship, and if Leo hadn't interrupted them just moments after… he shuddered at the thought of the embarrassment he would have had to face, and never live down. Autumn realized he had some reservations to progressing physically, so while she remained patient with him outwardly, on the inside she desperately ached for more of his touch.

Autumn hadn't had a chance to talk to April much in the last few days, either, and it was killing her. They texted back and forth between their T-phones, but Autumn wanted to share her feelings in a one-on-one conversation, not through a text message. April apologized to Autumn for her absence, having picked up more hours at the coffee shop while one of the other employees had a family emergency.

Donnie's T-phone buzzed as the group gathered in the kitchen for lunch shortly after training.

 _I finally get the evening off!_ April's message displayed brightly on his screen. His smile was even brighter.

"April is coming over tonight!" he exclaimed to the group.

"Thank _god,"_ Autumn answered with elation and relief. Suddenly, she and Donnie locked eyes, realizing there was going to be a bit of competition. She cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her neck, then looked at him pleadingly. "Can I have a minute or two with her when she gets here?" she asked him hesitantly. She knew if she were separated from Raph for nearly a week, she'd be desperate for his closeness, and she hated having to prolong Donnie's reunion with April any longer, knowing exactly how both of them must feel. But she _needed_ to talk to April, _needed_ that female, not to mention _human_ , interaction. There were things she needed to talk to her about that she couldn't talk to the others about just yet.

Donnie hesitated, his expression looking slightly pained, but finally nodded in understanding, knowing he'd have April to himself for the whole night. "Of course," he finally said, his whole expression relenting, and offering her a soft smile. He then gave her a bit more of a stern look and said, "But don't keep me waiting _too_ long…"

Autumn chuckled and smiled graciously at him. "I'll try to keep it short!" she promised.

As soon as April arrived, she made a pit stop in the kitchen with a pile of pizza boxes, and as soon as they were deposited, she and Donnie were immediately in each other's arms. "Ugh, I thought summer break was supposed to mean less work for me!" she groaned into his neck. "I'm exhausted!" She leaned back and smiled at Donnie, then at the group. "I made quite a bit extra, though, so I brought extra pizza!"

Mikey immediately stole April from Donnie and pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace. "I _love_ you, April!" he cried as he pressed his face against her shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at Donnie, not letting go of her. "Sorry bro, I do believe she and I were destined to be together, and I may have to steal her from you… I'm sure you'll be okay…"

Donnie just chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I think you may be confusing her for the pizza she brought. We all know pizza is your one true love."

Mikey let go of April and looked longingly at the pizza boxes. He then met April's blue eyes and shrugged apologetically, then patted her on the shoulder saying, "It's true, I can't deny my love for pizza." He bowed his head and held her shoulders, then said, meeting her eyes again, "Sorry, Ape, it just never would have worked out between us."

April laughed and patted his shoulder in return. "I'm sure I'll heal with time," she replied. And Mikey bolted into the kitchen, inhaling a slice of pizza before any of the others even made a move in that direction.

As the rest made their way to the kitchen to claim their own pizza before Mikey had it all eaten, Autumn stepped up to April's side. They grabbed their own slices and retracted from the group slightly so as to have their own private conversation. "I'm _so_ glad you're here," she said. "I hate to keep you away from Donnie any longer, but I _have_ to talk to you."

"You said that on your text messages," April replied, eyeing her with concern. "Is everything okay?"

Autumn nodded. "Everything is good, it's just about going back and seeing my parents again. And…" she looked cautiously around the room and saw that everyone was preoccupied with food and chattering amongst themselves, plus they were still a safe distance away from everyone. She returned her focus to April's eyes and said with a half-smile. "The rest is mostly, you know, girl talk…"

April laughed. "I gotcha. I do need some girl talk! Can't exactly discuss my love life with my co-workers."

Autumn nodded. "I hear ya. Having a mutant boyfriend has its downsides."

"Yeah, Donnie said you guys are 'official'," she replied with a grin, diving into her own slice of pizza. "That's awesome."

"Thanks," Autumn replied, grinning in return and taking a bite of her own slice.

"He also said they caught you in the dojo getting pretty hot and heavy," she added with a wink, none too quietly.

Autumn's cheeks flared and she and Leo made eye contact. She should have known he was overhearing everything. In fact, everyone except Mikey was probably eavesdropping. "Nothing happened," she mumbled, then shot April a sly smile.

"Better not have," Leo replied.

After lunch, April followed Autumn back to their room and shut the door. Autumn didn't hesitate. "Okay, so I've been thinking about telling my family the truth."

April's eyes shot open wide, her eyebrows raising up into her forehead. "Have you mentioned this to the others?"

"Not really," Autumn answered, taking a seat on the bed and looking down at the floor. "I made a comment about needing to come up with an explanation as to why I've been gone for a year, and said I probably couldn't tell them the truth, and Leo just jumped in with a big hell no."

April nodded, taking a seat next to her on the bed, pulling one leg up underneath her. "Of course he said that." She thought for a moment, then continued, "But I can see where you're coming from. You and your family seemed like you were pretty close. I'd hate to have to keep this family, this life, a secret from my dad. To have to constantly make up lies." She shook her head. "It would probably end up coming between Donnie and I…"

Autumn nodded. "That's what I'm afraid of. I can't just go back and live a life of lies with them… What kind of life is that? I might as well just stay missing forever."

April thought again, absently stroking her fingers back and forth across the comforter. "Mind if I ask Donnie for his opinion? Ya know, just have a private conversation with him, without Leo's input? I just think Leo is overprotective."

Autumn nodded. "That'd be fine with me. The more I can get everyone on my side, the closer I can get to seeing them again." She shook her head sadly. "I just want to be with them again…"

April brought her hand up to squeeze Autumn's shoulder. "You'll get to. We'll work it all out. As a team." Autumn grinned. They locked eyes for a moment, until finally April spoke again. "So, things are cool with you and Raph it looks like?"

Autumn's grin grew bigger. "Yeah. I never would have imagined… but it's awesome…" She sighed happily, then her eyes went far away. "He's so hesitant though… he keeps saying he's afraid of losing control. We've barely been to second base… And I'm _so_ ready to take things further…"

April chuckled. "Raph isn't known for his self-control, that's for sure. I can see where he'd be afraid of that. Just having the control to admit that to you is pretty huge."

"I trust him, though," Autumn replied. "He's never given me any reason to feel like he'd hurt me or take things too far…"

April nodded thoughtfully. "You've changed him, or brought something to the surface that nobody ever knew was there, probably not even himself." She met her eyes, then added, "but you both have to be on the same page about all this stuff. This kind of relationship… it's definitely different."

Autumn nodded in reply. "No shit." She then smiled at April, and said, "But honestly I wouldn't change it for anything. It's different, and I'm sure it'll be hard, but it's worth it. I feel like I'm becoming a person I never dreamed I could be. I have this confidence and… love… for myself that I never knew was there, and it makes life so much brighter, ya know?"

April smiled and nodded. "I know."

They paused thoughtfully for a moment, sitting silently on the bed, until finally Autumn sighed. "Go seduce your boyfriend, he's been a lost puppy without you. I shouldn't keep you any longer or he'll never want to be my friend again."

April laughed. "Yeah, I better go see him. I miss him too."

"Thanks for the chat," Autumn said with a smile as April stood up to head toward the door.

"Of course," April replied sincerely. "I needed the girl talk too. Work has been stifling!"

Autumn smiled. "I bet."

"I think Leo and Raph are patrolling tonight. Donnie said he and Mikey were thinking about a movie later. I'm gonna talk to Donnie about your thoughts first though… I'll let you know what he says." April smiled encouragingly at Autumn.

Autumn returned the smile with gratitude. "Thanks," she replied. "I'm going to hang out with Raph for a bit before they patrol." She stood to join April at the door, and they parted ways - April toward the lab and Autumn toward the common room.

April smiled warmly when she caught sight of Donnie working on fixing part of the Shellraiser, his welding hood covering his face as he raised his torch. She shielded her eyes as sparks flew and the room glowed blue, then returned her gaze to him as the blue light ceased and he lifted his hood to inspect his work. Her insides churned - somehow he was even hotter to her with that welding hood on, his position with the torch so masculine… "Hey handsome," she greeted, startling him out of his concentration.

He met her with a broad, gap-toothed grin when he saw her, and immediately ripped the hood from his head and came toward her, pulling her into his arms and inhaling her deeply. "God I've missed you," he groaned into her.

She squeezed him tightly around the neck. "Same here," she replied, then immediately pressed her lips against his. They fell into a deep kiss, wasting no time as their tongues entangled, their longing for each other getting the better of them as they stumbled blindly until Donnie had April pressed up against the wall, his hands already traveling up underneath her shirt and pushing her bra up out of the way. She gasped as his large hands found her breasts and squeezed, and he moaned against her mouth. He moved his lips to her jawline and she tilted her head to grant him more access, and he lipped his way across her neck, stooping to reach her collar bone. He reached his hands down to grab her buttocks, then hoisted her up higher so that her legs wrapped around his waist, hooking onto his carapace, giving him better access to her collar bone. He kissed his way across her shoulder, then pressed his face into her breasts and sighed heavily.

She realized she was panting with excitement. Once he slowed down, resting his head against her chest, she leaned her head back against the wall. "Damn, Donnie," she breathed. "You _did_ miss me."

"Hell yeah I did…" he replied, lifting his head to meet her eyes, then placing her back down on the ground. She teetered a little before regaining her balance, feeling a bit rocked by the sudden onset of passion. She found herself secretly wishing they were further along in their relationship - how hot it would have been if he had taken her right there against the wall…

She swallowed hard, her cheeks growing hot at the thought. She smiled seductively at him and said, "Maybe I should stay away more often…"

Donnie gave her a threatening, yet playful glare. "Hell no, you won't."

April laughed. "No, I couldn't handle it." She glanced over at the Shellraiser. "Whatcha working on?" she asked, with a nod toward the truck.

Donnie sighed, then answered, "Raph likes to take corners a bit too sharp."

April nodded. "He can be a bit reckless."

Donnie began making his way back toward his work again, and April followed behind. "How are those two love birds, anyway?" he asked over his shoulder.

April grinned and took a seat on a stool as Donnie put his hood back on. "Sounds like they're doing pretty good," she answered. "She's head over heels for him."

"I can't believe how much he's changed because of her," Donnie commented.

April shrugged. "I guess we ladies bring out the best in you boys," she replied with a grin.

Donnie laughed and glanced at her from under his hood, pausing from preparing his welding rod. "I think you've only managed to bring out the animal in me," he answered, then flipped his hood down with a jerk of his head.

April licked her lips as her stomach flipped. Everything about what just happened there was so fucking _hot_. "Mmm…" she purred. "I think you may have done the same to me…" And she reluctantly averted her eyes as the room glowed blue from his torch.

She watched him work between welds, until finally he was done and, after replacing his hood with safety goggles, began grinding the surface smooth. As the sparks flew, she shouted over them. "So Autumn wants to tell her family the truth!" she said, eager to get going with that conversation.

Donnie gave her a hesitant look, then continued focusing on his work. "Well I know Leo is totally against that," he shouted back.

"What about you?"

He looked up at her, pausing the grinder. "What about me?" he asked, his voice lowered to neutral.

April shrugged. "How do you feel about a completely different family knowing that you exist?"

He thought for a moment, his eyes traveling over his work on the metal. "I don't know… I guess I can't make a valid decision without really knowing them. If they're trustworthy people, then yeah… honestly… I kind of like the idea of someone else knowing we exist."

April smiled. "I kind of do, too, actually."

Donnie nodded, then began grinding some more. "I think it'd probably be better for her relationship with Raph, too, if they knew about us, and knew about him," he shouted over the noise.

April nodded. "I agree," she shouted back. He stopped again, so she lowered her voice to normal. "Being with you would be pretty damn hard if I had to keep it a secret from my dad."

Donnie met her eyes, then nodded with a small smile. "It means a lot to me knowing that he knows about us and is okay with it, too."

"Think we can convince Leo to go through with it?" she wondered.

He paused thoughtfully, then looked back up to meet her blue eyes. "Honestly, it's going to be hard enough to convince _Raph_ to go through with it. I can see him being terrified about the idea."

April chuckled. "True," she said, and Donnie continued with his grinding as the sparks flew.

The evening drew on uneventfully. Autumn felt much better after talking to April - her suppressed feelings had been getting the better of her. She knew she needed to talk to Raphael about her idea, but wasn't entirely sure how to word it yet, and therefore was glad he was on patrol that night, so as to give her more time alone to process the idea.

April and Donnie joined Mikey and Autumn in the common room for a movie after Leo and Raph headed out. As the previews played, Mikey busied himself popping popcorn, and Donnie took the opportunity to let Autumn know he was on her side.

"I think it'd be good for you and Raph if your family knew your story," he admitted to Autumn, who smiled in relief.

"You do?" she replied with elation and relief.

Donnie shrugged. "I think we should be able to trust you to know that our secret is safe with them, if you chose to tell them. And it seems like you and Raph are pretty serious, which means having their support will be tantamount in your relationship."

April nodded. "Have you thought about approaching Splinter about the idea?"

Autumn grew nervous at that idea. "A little… He's so intimidating though…"

Donnie smiled. "That's what makes him the best sensei," he agreed. "But I think you'd be surprised at how agreeable he can be. If he sees a good reason behind a decision, he usually goes with it."

"But he's so protective of your secrecy," Autumn argued. "I can't imagine he'd be okay with me telling my parents the truth."

Donnie shrugged. "He has to be if you plan on going that route."

Autumn looked down at her knees and sighed, just as Mikey came in with four large bowls of popcorn. "Going what route?" he questioned.

"Autumn is thinking about telling her parents the truth," Donnie explained, and Autumn shot him a look that could only mean she wasn't entirely sure she wanted that information spread around just yet.

Donnie offered a shrug in reply. "We need the whole group to make a decision eventually, and Mikey is the next most agreeable."

"That's right, DWP, I support you all the way," he said as he passed out popcorn bowls and plopped down on the bean bag chair. He stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth, and said with a muffled voice, "Ah fink geebing heecres fum yuh famiy ih a bah iea."

"What?" Autumn asked, giving him a disgusted look.

"He thinks keeping secrets from your family is a bad idea," Donnie translated as he skipped to the movie menu with the remote.

"How did you know that?" Autumn questioned, impressed.

Donnie laughed. "I happen to be a genius," he replied in mock arrogance. "And I've listened to that for the past 15-plus years. It's kind of a second language."

"Gotcha," Autumn replied, sinking back into the couch. "Well, I'm glad I have your support, Mikey," she said to the youngest turtle with a smile.

Mikey winked as he pointed his finger in her direction. "Anything for you, DWP," he replied.

Autumn's mind could not focus on the movie as the four of them settled in. All she could think about was the prospect of telling her family the truth and _finally_ reuniting with them. She was finally human again, which made it that much harder to live down there, hidden underground, away from a world she could finally fit into again. Not that she wasn't enjoying her time with the family, she just wanted her original family back in her life. She pulled out her T-phone and punched a message out to Raph.

 _Wish you were here 3_

It wasn't long before he responded. _Wish u were here_

 _You wouldn't rather be snuggling on the couch?_ she punched back.

 _U wouldnt rather b hunting bad guys from the rooftops?_ he replied.

She smiled as she read his message. _No._ she replied simply. She then added, _Save some energy, I want to talk to you tonight._

Raph stared at the screen for a moment after reading her message. Talk to him? About what? Something bad? Good? _Everything ok?_ he punched back hastily, glancing up at Leo to make sure his back was still turned. It was. He was standing at the edge of the rooftop, scouring the streets and alleys below.

 _Of course. But I'd like it to be a little better…_

He narrowed his brows at the message. Better? What was she talking about? Suddenly his phone flipped out of his hand by the tip of a sword, and after arcing through the air it landed in Leo's hand, four feet in front of Raphael. "Pay attention," the leader commanded. "I told you not to let this relationship distract you."

Raph rolled his eyes and began walking toward the edge where Leo had just been standing. "Jealous, Lame-o-nardo?" he asked, and in a flash he snatched his phone back out of Leo's hand as he casually walked past him.

This time Leo rolled his eyes. "No, Raph, I'm concerned. Donnie only improved since he and April got together. He made me feel that maybe this girlfriend thing wouldn't be such a threat to our team." He whirled to make eye contact with Raph, but Raph's back was turned. "You're proving him wrong, apparently."

Raph turned on his heel to face his brother. "Look, nothing is happening right now, if it were, the situation would have my undivided attention, now get your panties out of a bunch and stay out of my shit!"

Leo stepped forward until he was face to face with Raph. "I have every right to get in your shit if your shit is getting in the way of our job," he growled at Raph. "Now _focus_."

Raph rolled his eyes. As soon as Leo's back was turned again, Raph retrieved his phone and punched one last message to Autumn. _Better go, Leo's got a stick up his ass, gotta help him pull it out."_

 _Good luck with that… :-/_ Autumn responded, and Raph tucked his phone back in his belt.

"I saw that," Leo grumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N I'm back! My muse kinda checked out for this story :-/ so, sorry for the delay. After writing "Surrender" I was put back in the mood to write some juicy stuff, so fair warning: this gets juicy! It's rounded out with some actual storyline, too, though. Enjoy!**

Shredder would have been lying if he said he wasn't surprised that Baxter Stockman for once managed to execute one of his requests without complications. However, the real test was yet to be seen. Was this new mutagen going to play out the way he had planned for it to? Did Stockman truly reconfigure the Kraang's technology successfully, exactly how he had intended?

He held the small vial of bright blue ooze between his thumb and forefinger, the mutant scientist hovering under buzzing wings nervously to the side. He inspected the glowing blue contents curiously. "I don't suppose you're ready to put this to the test?" Shredder asked, his voice a low grumble.

Stockman twitched nervously. "It should beeeee ready, mazzzzzter," he responded, fidgeting with his spindly black, hairy digits.

Shredder smiled. "Xever! Bradford!" he barked. It wasn't long before the twice-mutated, skeletal dog and the mutant fish on robotic legs appeared in the doorway.

"Hai, Sensei," Rhazar muttered, wondering what in the hell kind of mission Shredder could be risking their lives for this time.

Shredder presented the vial of blue ooze to the two mutants. "I have a little job for you…"

Later, Raph and Leo entered a dark and silent lair. Realizing the others must have already checked in for the night, Raph nervously made his way to his room after saying goodnight to Leo. He pushed his door open, and found Autumn lying on his bed, just as he expected she would be. "Hey," he greeted hesitantly.

She smiled at him. "Hey," she replied as he closed the door. Her face fell. "You look terrified…" she remarked. She pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed.

Raph swallowed. "Well, your girlfriend tells you she wants to talk to you, and you don't know why… kinda makes you nervous…" he replied.

Autumn chuckled. "I said it was nothing bad."

"Yeah but I still don't know what it is…"

Autumn stood and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a firm kiss on his lips. "Calm down, tough guy, I just want to talk about when I go back to see my family for the first time."

Raph leaned his head back, looking to the ceiling for help. "Oh is that all?" he asked sarcastically.

Autumn dropped her arms to her sides, looking hurt. "Come on, Raph, it's not that big a deal!"

Raph heaved a sigh and surrendered, walking toward his bed where he sat down with a huff and began taking off his gear.

"Now," Autumn continued, after a pause. "With a relationship comes the prospect of meeting the parents."

A horrified look crossed Raph's face. "I thought you said this was no big deal!"

Autumn groaned in response. "Chill! Just listen to me. First, I want my parents to know what happened to me. I owe them that, right? I owe them some kind of story, and the thought of lying to them for the rest of my life doesn't sound all that appealing." She sat down next to him, gently, the springs of the mattress moaning slightly under her. "I want to tell them the truth. And I trust that, if we tell them carefully, they'll be okay with it."

Raph gave her a questioning glance. "Okay with it?" he asked. "Okay with the fact that you've spent the past couple months underground with a family of mutants? Okay with the fact that you're going to continue to hang out with this family of mutants?"

"Yeah," she replied nonchalantly. "What they won't be okay with is the fact that I was a victim of this Kraang invasion, which, mind you, they lived through too. They also won't be okay with the fact that I was a mutant lizard living completely alone, and hunted, no less, for a year, fending for myself underneath the streets of New York. Given that, I'm sure they'll find it in them to be okay with the fact that another family of mutants took me in, cared for me, showed me not only hospitality but love and friendship, and provided me with shelter, food, and safety as well as managed to turn me human again."

Raph finally finished removing the last of the tape from his foot and looked up to meet her eyes. They stared at each other for a moment - Raph processing, and Autumn waiting. "Well," he said in an almost whisper, "when you put it that way… I guess it sounds perfectly fine…"

She gave him a questioning look. "Are you being sarcastic?" she asked hesitantly.

He looked down at the wad of tape in his hand, then tossed it into his trash can. He sighed, then met her eyes again. "No. I'm serious. I guess any decent parent would accept all of that, if they believe you, anyway."

Autumn felt hope rising in her heart, and a sense of joy bubbling up inside of her. Was he really on her side with all this? "They'll believe me. We took a video of my transformation, remember?"

Raph's eyes widened. "That's right, you did…" he replied.

Autumn grinned, then gave him a half-shrug. "So they'll believe me."

Raph searched her eyes again, trying to hide the fear in his own. He trusted her, and he really did agree that she couldn't just lie to her parents about everything she'd been through. But would she tell them about him? About their relationship? That part still terrified him… "So," he began again, "can we trust them to keep us a secret? Not report us to the news or the government? We won't have to worry about the FBI showing up at our door?"

Autumn chuckled. "No, they're not like that," she said with certainty. "Plus, don't forget, this city is different now. We've seen the news, and April's told us everything Mr. O'Neil experiences on a daily basis. After the Kraang invasion, I'm sure people look at life a little differently. They're kinda shook up about everything that happened. That was a total mind fuck…"

Raph couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, I guess that was."

"Sounds like you dealt with it way more intensely than I did," she commented.

He nodded slowly. "I'm still amazed we made it through that alive. It was pretty fucked up and terrifying…" he replied. He then met her eyes again and gave her a nervous smile. "But, somehow, not as terrifying as the idea of meeting your parents."

She playfully swatted him on the arm. "Come on, Raph, cut them some slack!"

"What?!" he responded defensively. "I'm sure any teenage boy would be nervous about meeting his girlfriend's parents. But when you're a mutant turtle living in the sewer on top of it?" He groaned and shook his head. "Aren't there jokes about dads with shotguns and shit like that?"

Autumn shook her head. "My parents are not like that," she assured him. "Besides, I'm not going to break all that to them at once - I'll tell them what happened first, get them to understand the whole thing, make sure they know to keep this a secret, and then let a little time go by before I break it to them that I fell in love with one of you guys…" She said the last part without thinking it through entirely. Their eyes went wide simultaneously, both awkwardly unsure what to say. "Um, I mean… fell in like with one of you guys…" she quickly corrected, averting her eyes, heat rising to her cheeks. Way to jump the gun there, Autumn, she chastised herself. She knew how she felt about him… Inside, she wasn't afraid to call it love… but to his face? She wasn't sure she was ready to admit it, or if he was ready to hear it. Judging by his stunned silence, she was probably right in assuming that.

Raph cleared his throat loudly. "That… that sounds like a good plan," he stammered, pretending nothing happened. Fell in love with me? he thought. Was she serious? Or was that just a slip of the tongue? Certainly she can't call these feelings love… can she?

"Really?" she asked hesitantly, brightening. "You're on my side with this?"

Raph nodded slowly, nervously. "I'm kinda scared shitless about the whole idea, but, yeah… I'm on your side." He brought his hand to her knee and gave it a squeeze while offering her a nervous smile.

Autumn beamed at him. "Oh my god, Raph," she breathed, her eyes shining. "Thank you…" and she threw herself on him, sending him crashing into the pillows with her on top of him, kissing him senseless.

April settled in next to Donnie in his bed not long after the movie ended and they had all gone their separate ways to their bedrooms. "I think Autumn was pretty thrilled to find out you're on her side," April commented.

Donnie pulled April into his arms as they nestled in under the covers. "I'm a little nervous, I'll admit. It takes a lot to trust a family we've never met before to keep us a secret. But I also agree that we can't expect Autumn to lie to her parents about everything. That's not fair."

April sighed as she traced her finger along the crevices of his plastron. "No, it's not," she agreed. She sighed, focusing on how nice it was to be back with him again. Her crazy hours at the coffee shop plus getting her life organized around her summer classes, which had started up that week, along with moving her stuff out of her dorm and back to her dad's apartment since her lease was up at the end of the school year, made for a very busy week and no time to really escape to the lair. She would crash hard at her dad's for too little sleep before waking and hitting the ground running the next day. When her coworker came back and her shifts normalized, plus getting settled into the summer class schedule (which was much lighter than the regular school year), she jumped at the first chance she got to get back down to the lair. She missed everyone, and certainly missed her female connection with Autumn, but mostly, of course, she missed Donnie, and these precious moments she had snuggling close to him, just the two of them, breathing each other's air and holding each other tight. She sighed happily again, and couldn't help but bring her face up to meet his, her lips pressing softly against his own. "I'm so glad to be back," she whispered.

He smiled warmly at her, his eyes sparkling in the glow of the small night light. "I'm so glad you're back," he replied, his voice low. He kissed her deeply this time, needing to taste her, needing that connection with her that he'd missed so much over the past few days. Their tongues wasted no time in finding each other, dancing back and forth as they tilted their heads to better the angle. She felt herself growing hot with desire. How long had it been since they shared a true, deep intimate moment? Too long, she realized. So without hesitation, she pulled her shirt up over her head, freeing her soft breasts, much to Donnie's delight.

"I kinda want a little more than just kissing," she said sheepishly, planting a kiss on his lips and then pulling back to smile at him.

Donnie chuckled nervously. How was he still nervous about this stuff, he wondered? "That's alright with me," he tried to say as steadily as he could, though his voice cracked, revealing his nerves.

April giggled. "Calm down, Donnie, you've had a naked girl in your bed before," she said smoothly as she pulled her cotton shorts down, leaving herself completely bare.

Donnie swallowed hard. "It's been awhile," he whispered, taking her mouth into his.

"I know," she mumbled back against his lips as their tongues entwined. "Too long." She pressed her body against his, and his arms wrapped around her, first reaching up to cup her breasts, then moving downward to firmly grasp her buttocks. "Mmmm," she hummed into his mouth as they continued their languid kissing.

He felt the fire burning inside him as his nerves dissipated. He did miss this. He wanted her so badly… a curious thought crossed his mind if she was ready to take their relationship up a notch. So far he'd only touched her… there was so much more he could do… His insides stirred at the memory of the few times he'd touched her already, his finger deep inside of her, his other finger rubbing her clit, bringing her to ecstasy and sending her over the edge. He loved watching her writhe, seeing her toss her head back in pure pleasure… He wanted it again.

His hands were still grasping her firm ass, and he moved one hand down the side of her leg to hike it up over the edge of his carapace. She moaned again into his mouth as they continued their passionate kissing, and she gasped as his finger reached around and found her entrance, not pausing a moment before plunging deep inside, causing her to cry out. She bit down on his lower lip, and he growled against her, thrusting his finger. "God you feel good," she muttered, her voice breathless and yearning.

"So do you," he whispered in response, drawing her lips into his. He trailed kisses down her jaw, across her throat, and she arched her back to grant him access to her breasts, which he immediately took into his mouth. "You taste so good too," he muttered as his tongue traced across her nipple. Goosebumps rippled up across her skin as she sighed. He felt a sense of boldness rising in him as his hormones took the reigns. He was ready to go a little further, hoping desperately that she was too. He began kissing down her breast, down her ribcage, and across her soft porcelain belly. He felt her tremble with excitement. "I wonder," he said quietly, seductively, as he withdrew his finger from inside of her and met her eyes as she looked down at him. Her eyes widened as he brought his wet finger to his lips. His eyelids fluttered at her intoxicating scent. "I wonder what else you taste like," he muttered, finally finishing his thought. Her eyes grew even wider as he drew his finger into his mouth and pulled it back out slowly. Her salty muskiness drove him wild, and suddenly he was blinded by the need to truly taste her, so without hesitation, he scooted himself down further, resting prone on the mattress between her legs, his palms flat on the insides of her knees as he gently parted them, and she went rigid in anticipation as she felt his hot breath against her tender folds.

"D-Donnie!" she cried out, gripping the bedsheets in her fists as she felt his tongue brush through her moist lips. It was everything she could do to keep her hips and legs from jerking involuntarily, and sensing this, he placed a firm hand on her hip to hold her in place, and she grew even more aroused at the reminder of how fucking strong he was.

Her earthy musk was driving him wild, his senses exploding with the new tastes and smells and feelings inside of him, sharing this intimate moment with the woman he loved. His heart pounded, still in disbelief that this was even happening – hell, he was still reeling from several months ago when she admitted she loved him at all and wanted to be with him. He smiled against her wet lips before returning to his ministrations, and he traced his tongue in the vicinity of her clit, searching it out, having the little experience from the last couple times with his hands to go by. He knew he found his target when his tongue brushed across the tender bead and she cried out, her toes curling into the bedsheets. He stayed here, then brought his finger back up to find her hot center, and he thrust it inside as he worked her clit with his tongue, his chin pressed into her folds as he sucked and pulled and twisted his tongue around her sensitive nub, causing her to release strangled moans and cries and groans as she writhed under his grasp on her hip.

It was driving her wild, she was beginning to see stars from the immense amount of delirious ecstasy. It wasn't long before she felt the tremble of her approaching climax, building steadily until suddenly an electric shock blasted through her, causing her to shudder and quake as he held his face against her soaking vagina. He withdrew his finger slowly as her climax slowed to mild shudders, and he took one last taste, dragging his tongue through her folds and causing her to shudder once more, before finally pulling himself up to rest his head on her soft belly, feeling it rise and fall in exhaustion and elation.

After what seemed like seconds and an eternity all at the same time, just breathing together in unison, April broke the silence in a raspy voice. "That… was fucking incredible…" she breathed.

Donnie chuckled, feeling a sense of pride at his accomplishment, and he pulled himself up to lie down at her side. She nestled into him, pressing herself against his hard, creviced plastron, wrapping her top leg around his hips. He couldn't get enough of her, he didn't want to stop experiencing her. He brought his hand back down between her thighs and began running his fingers in slow, languid, gentle strokes across her tender folds, coaxing another shudder from her as she sighed and relaxed into him, his intimate touch feeling so soothing as opposed to the hot, primal thrusting this same finger was doing just moments before.

"I love you," April whispered.

"I love you too," Donnie whispered back, kissing her head, and they drifted off into peaceful slumber together as her naked body snuggled into him, his hand slowing its gentle strokes until they both fell still, surrendering to sleep


End file.
